Have I been missold a leather settee and chair

caverncity

Bought a settee and chair that was described both on the company website and again assured by a member of staff it was full leather and hardwood frame. I wasn't convinced as some parts felt plastic and it was too light for hardwood but fully assured. It was delivered today and when I went to fit the legs I noticed the frame is softwood and plywood and what material I could see poking through (the back) I am convinced it not leather but PVC. Please see photos and tell me what you think.
Here's the description

Features a hardwearing leather and a contemporary style. The seats are sprung to provide comfort and support while also reducing pooling on the seats. Hard-wearing robust leather.

Cover Type: Leather Frame Type: Hardwood
Thanks

Aylesbury_Duck

Seems straightforward that it's not as described.

Keep_pedalling

Would help if you add3d the photos. Do you have a link to the product?

DullGreyGuy

is it https://www.taskersonline.com/products/comfort-king-detroit-2-5-seater-sofa?ref=assortion&page=product&pid=4406701785174&oid=31f269fa-fbd8-4eb9-a08a-3ad82aac285d or something else?

Did you buy it in store or online?
Assuming in store, did you see it in the showroom to see how it felt etc?

"Leather", when only described as that, covers a wide range of things included bonded leather. It's effectively off cuts of leather broken down and reconstituted into a sheet using a polyurethane binder and so can very much feel and look more like the plastic binder than the leather fibres it contains. 


I'm not sure weight alone is a sufficient mechanism to determine if something is hard or softwood, its unlikely ply is used as the "frame" and so wouldn't form part of the definition of what the frame is. 

If you bought it online you can simply reject it anyway, it'll be more complex if you bought it in store. 

caverncity

I'll add more photos later, I had issues uploading
 Bought in store seen on website 

caverncity

DullGreyGuy said:

is it https://www.taskersonline.com/products/comfort-king-detroit-2-5-seater-sofa?ref=assortion&page=product&pid=4406701785174&oid=31f269fa-fbd8-4eb9-a08a-3ad82aac285d or something else?

Did you buy it in store or online?
Assuming in store, did you see it in the showroom to see how it felt etc?

"Leather", when only described as that, covers a wide range of things included bonded leather. It's effectively off cuts of leather broken down and reconstituted into a sheet using a polyurethane binder and so can very much feel and look more like the plastic binder than the leather fibres it contains. 


I'm not sure weight alone is a sufficient mechanism to determine if something is hard or softwood, its unlikely ply is used as the "frame" and so wouldn't form part of the definition of what the frame is. 

If you bought it online you can simply reject it anyway, it'll be more complex if you bought it in store. 

Yes that's the one

caverncity

DullGreyGuy said:

is it https://www.taskersonline.com/products/comfort-king-detroit-2-5-seater-sofa?ref=assortion&page=product&pid=4406701785174&oid=31f269fa-fbd8-4eb9-a08a-3ad82aac285d or something else?

Did you buy it in store or online?
Assuming in store, did you see it in the showroom to see how it felt etc?

"Leather", when only described as that, covers a wide range of things included bonded leather. It's effectively off cuts of leather broken down and reconstituted into a sheet using a polyurethane binder and so can very much feel and look more like the plastic binder than the leather fibres it contains. 


I'm not sure weight alone is a sufficient mechanism to determine if something is hard or softwood, its unlikely ply is used as the "frame" and so wouldn't form part of the definition of what the frame is. 

If you bought it online you can simply reject it anyway, it'll be more complex if you bought it in store. 

I know leather covers a wide range of leather products however I was told leather, the website states hard wearing leather however what I seen today was definitely not. I now assume only the harder wearing parts are leather and the rest PVC. The frame is definitely softwood. I was told full leather and hardwood frame hence why I bought it. 

MattMattMattUK

DullGreyGuy said:

I'm not sure weight alone is a sufficient mechanism to determine if something is hard or softwood, its unlikely ply is used as the "frame" and so wouldn't form part of the definition of what the frame is. 

Weight is not, Balsa is one of the lightest woods around, but is a hardwood. Hardwood comes from deciduous trees, softwood grows from evergreen trees, there are some very hard softwoods and some very soft hardwoods. In terms of physical strength there are hardwoods such as Yew, some Cypress and some Pine and Larch that are harder than Oak. I agree with you on the frame as well, likely the description of frame is probably fairly restrictive in a technical sense, with pine likely making up a significant chunk of the rest of the structure, especially the bits that are not directly load bearing. 

From the images the OP posted in their first post I would guess that the wood shown is a softwood, the colour and grain structure give that away, but it would probably be argued that is not part of the frame and is some other part of the sofa. 

DullGreyGuy said:

"Leather", when only described as that, covers a wide range of things included bonded leather. It's effectively off cuts of leather broken down and reconstituted into a sheet using a polyurethane binder and so can very much feel and look more like the plastic binder than the leather fibres it contains. 

Agreed on bonded leather, the product images as well as the OP's images would indicate that it is bonded, the product images on the website have a very plastic look to them and the light scattering is wrong for natural leather. 

DullGreyGuy

caverncity said:

DullGreyGuy said:

is it https://www.taskersonline.com/products/comfort-king-detroit-2-5-seater-sofa?ref=assortion&page=product&pid=4406701785174&oid=31f269fa-fbd8-4eb9-a08a-3ad82aac285d or something else?

Did you buy it in store or online?
Assuming in store, did you see it in the showroom to see how it felt etc?

"Leather", when only described as that, covers a wide range of things included bonded leather. It's effectively off cuts of leather broken down and reconstituted into a sheet using a polyurethane binder and so can very much feel and look more like the plastic binder than the leather fibres it contains. 


I'm not sure weight alone is a sufficient mechanism to determine if something is hard or softwood, its unlikely ply is used as the "frame" and so wouldn't form part of the definition of what the frame is. 

If you bought it online you can simply reject it anyway, it'll be more complex if you bought it in store. 

I know leather covers a wide range of leather products however I was told leather, the website states hard wearing leather however what I seen today was definitely not. I now assume only the harder wearing parts are leather and the rest PVC. The frame is definitely softwood. I was told full leather and hardwood frame hence why I bought it. 

Both those terms could be used with something made of bonded leather. Bonded leather can be backed by another material to enable it to be thiner, cheaper but retain its tensile strength. 

You bought in store so don't have the no questions asked right of return so in the first instance raise your concerns with the store saying you believe the materials used are not as advertised. 

born_again

Could that be part of the Sprung seat base.

caverncity

Had a better look now. I have come to a conclusion the hard wearing parts are some kind of real leather, it's smells of leather but not much. The other parts are not leather as they have a plastic chemical smell and are more glossy and have a plastic feel. You can see the difference were the leather and PVC is stitched together. Also the frame consists of softwood (springs attached to this) and plywood, the outer carcass and frame is definitely plywood. I have notified the supplier and just waiting for a reply. The salesperson fully assured me it was all full leather and hardwood. The reason why I mentioned how light it felt is I have a hardwood framed chair and that is very heavy compared to this. I can easily lift this with my foot.